Nearly two months after a bold jailbreak stunned New Orleans, convicted murderer Derrick Groves remains at large.
Groves, 28, escaped alongside nine other inmates from the New Orleans Justice Center on May 16, as previously reported by The Dallas Express, slipping through a hole hidden behind a jail toilet. While the rest of the New Orleans escapees were tracked down, Groves has seemingly vanished into the shadows.
“For my family, it’s been like reliving a constant nightmare,” Jasmine Groves, the escapee’s aunt, told WDSU, saying the family had been questioned repeatedly and was still under close watch by authorities. She also publicly pleaded for her nephew to surrender and turn himself in.
The jailbreak sparked an unusual online betting frenzy.
Polymarket, a crypto-based betting platform, allowed users to wager on whether the last five remaining fugitives, as of late May, would be caught, as well as guess who would be caught next. Odds varied: Groves had a 43% chance of capture at the time, Jermaine Donald 32%, and Massey, both recaptured already – just 24%.
Thousands of dollars were bet overall, with over $1,300 placed on Lenton Vanburen alone. A viral post from Polymarket promoting “prisoner parlays” drew more than 4.4 million views on social media as of press time.
Unlike some of his fellow escapees facing lesser charges, Groves had every reason to disappear for good.
He was convicted last year of murdering two people with an assault rifle during a Mardi Gras block party, a shooting act that left two young men dead and several others wounded. As a result, Groves was facing life in prison without parole.
Authorities believe Groves, known on the streets as “Woo,” is receiving help from family and friends, and that support may be the reason he has managed to stay one step ahead of the manhunt, according to AP. In the days following the escape, investigators received tips suggesting Groves was hiding in the Lower Ninth Ward, the same neighborhood where he grew up, and the same community that is still haunted by the scars of Hurricane Katrina.
Groves’ path to violence began early. He left school in ninth grade and turned to selling heroin, later drawing federal drug charges as a teenager. Between 2019 and 2024, prosecutors say he was involved in at least four killings. Even in court, Groves showed little remorse, at one point yelling profanities at a grieving aunt whose nephew he had murdered.
As of the time of publication, a $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the capture or location of Groves, the last New Orleans escapee still on the lam.